The Sandman (Vertigo)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Sandman
Cover of Sandman Vol. 2, #1, by Dave McKean
Publisher Vertigo imprint of DC Comics Schedule Monthly Format ongoing Publication dates 1988 - 1996 Number of issues 75 issues Main character(s) Dream of The Endless Creative team Writer(s) Neil Gaiman Artist(s) Dave McKean Sam Kieth Malcolm Jones III Mike Dringenberg Charles Vess Jill Thompson Michael Zulli and others Colourist(s) Danny Vozzo Creator(s) Neil Gaiman Mike Dringenberg Sam Kieth

The Sandman is a comic book series written by Neil Gaiman. Published in the United States by DC Comics for 75 issues from 1988 until 1996, it was one of the flagship titles of DC's Vertigo imprint, and is currently kept in print as a series of ten trade paperbacks. It is widely considered one of the most original, sophisticated and artistically ambitious comic book series of the modern age and is the only comic book to ever win the World Fantasy Award ^[1]. By the time of the series' conclusion, it had made significant contributions to the artistic maturity of English language comic books and become a pop culture phenomenon in its own right.

The plot, as summarized by its creator is: “The king of dreams learns one must change or die and then makes his decision.” Thus stated, the plot of the The Sandman centers around the protagonist, Dream, the immortal anthropomorphic personification of dreams. The series begins with the end of a long imprisonment of Dream and this first third of the series somewhat conforms to the horror genre. Later, the series evolves into an elaborate fantasy series, incorporating elements of classical and contemporary mythology, ultimately placing its protagonist in the role of tragic hero.

Contents 1 Plot 1.1 Summary 1.2 Setting 1.3 Protagonist 2 Impact 2.1 Comic books 2.2 Art 2.3 Popular culture 3 Publication 3.1 The Sandman Library 3.2 From the world of The Sandman 4 Neil Gaiman – written stories 4.1 Comic books 4.2 Graphic novels/Prose 5 Awards and recognition 6 See also 7 Bibliography 7.1 Footnotes 7.2 References 8 External links

[edit] Plot

[edit] Summary

Gaiman has summarized the plot of the series (in the foreword to Endless Nights) as: "The king of dreams learns one must change or die and then makes his decision." The character's initially haughty and often cruel manner begins to soften after his years of imprisonment at the start of the series, but the challenge of undoing past sins and changing old ways is an enormous one for a being who has been set in his ways for billions of years.

[edit] Setting

The story-lines primarily take place in the Dreaming, Morpheus's realm, and the waking world, with occasional visits to other domains, such as Hell, Faerie, Asgard, and the domains of the other Endless. Many used the contemporary United States of America and the United Kingdom as a backdrop. The DC Universe was the official setting of the series, but well-known DC characters and places were rarely featured after 1990, with one exception: Lyta Hall, formerly Fury of the 80s super-team Infinity Inc., figures prominently in the "Kindly Ones" story arc. John Constantine and Doctor Destiny are also key characters in two of the early issues. And in the final volume, Superman, Batman, and the Martian Manhunter all have a very brief cameo.

Most of the story-lines take place in modern times (presumably the late 1980s and early 1990s), but many short stories are set in the past, taking advantage of the immortality of many of the characters to deal with historical individuals and events.

[edit] Protagonist

The protagonist of Sandman is Dream, the immortal anthropomorphic personification of dreams and story telling. He is known by an array of names, most often Morpheus, but also Oneiros, Lord Shaper, Lord Kai'ckul, Lord L'Zoril, the Prince of Stories, the Carrion King, and, rarely, "The Sandman." He is one of a family of seven siblings known as the Endless, each of whom personifies some aspect of reality, such as Death or Desire.

For more characters, see Characters of The Sandman.

[edit] Impact

[edit] Comic books

The Sandman was one of the most widely respected American comic book series of its time, finding recognition not only within the comic book industry but in the general literary world. It is generally ranked among such works as Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons's Watchmen, Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Art Spiegelman's Maus in terms of critical acclaim and its conferring of respectability on comics. The Sandman supported the notion that comic books could be high-quality literature or art even in a long-running series.

Although The Sandman existed within the world of the superhero genre (DC characters — such as Doctor Destiny, the Justice League, and John Constantine — occasionally interacted with Morpheus, and characters like Green Lantern and Batman were seen in cameos), most of the main characters (save Lyta Hall and Daniel Hall) have no direct connections with it. Factual persons — such as William Shakespeare, Emperor Norton and Mark Twain — also made appearances. The first third of the series somewhat conformed to the horror genre, but it later grew into an elaborate fantasy series, incorporating elements of classical and contemporary mythology. The series is occasionally labeled as "Sophisticated Suspense", a small genre that also includes Swamp Thing (particularly after Alan Moore took over writing it in the 1980s), and Jamie Delano's Hellblazer.

The Sandman also demonstrated that non-superhero comic books could be successful. Along with Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing stories, Sandman helped establish "sophisticated suspense", a genre which is meant for older readers, includes elements of horror and fantasy, and tackles controversial topics. Sandman was one of the original Vertigo comics, an imprint which specialized in this genre and published some of the most acclaimed series of the 1990s, including Preacher and Animal Man.

The Sandman also strengthened the importance of the writer in comic books. Before Sandman, writers were often overshadowed by superstar artists such as Todd McFarlane and Jim Lee. Gaiman became one of the most popular comic book creators of the era (launching his career as a novelist).

The series paved the way for the long-form but finite comic book series as multi-layered serial fiction. Like a novel, and unlike all but a few prior comics series, The Sandman told a single complete story over seventy-five issues with a beginning, middle, and definitive end. Yet the book was also composed chiefly of a handful of story arcs that also moved from commencement to conclusion on a smaller scale, and these arcs consisted of individual issues of the magazine which themselves followed a finite narrative line within the context of the larger work surrounding them. Since The Sandman, this format has become increasingly popular and a staple of DC's Vertigo imprint, e.g., Grant Morrison's The Invisibles, Brian Vaughan's Y - The Last Man Vaughan's Ex Machina from DC's Wildstorm imprint, Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso's 100 Bullets, the aforementioned Preacher, and the Lucifer series by Mike Carey, a Sandman spin-off. James Robinson also used this style in his comic Starman.

[edit] Art

Also unlike most comic books, The Sandman did not feature an ongoing illustrator; instead, different artists were hired for each new storyline, sometimes for only a single issue. Aside from co-creator Sam Kieth, artists who illustrated a significant number of issues include Colleen Doran, Mike Dringenberg, Marc Hempel, Kelley Jones, Jill Thompson and Michael Zulli. Their styles ranged from cartoony expressionism (Hempel) to detailed, delicate realism with a hint of the Pre-Raphaelites (Zulli). The lettering for each issue was done by Todd Klein, save for a handful of issues during the book's second major storyline, where John Costanza filled in while Klein was away on honeymoon.

Each issue featured a cover created by Dave McKean. McKean’s approach combined painting, photography, pencil and ink drawings, collage, digital art, found objects and even sculpture, resulting in distinctive, often abstract or surreal, images.

Todd Klein's distinctive lettering on The Sandman also helped popularize individual typescripts for the word balloons of certain characters, a technique that had been used in Cerebus and scattered other places. Gaiman and Klein particularly used unique styles for the Endless, such as Morpheus’ word balloons being black and irregular with white lettering and Delirium’s being irregular, abstract and multi-colored.

[edit] Popular culture

In addition to its impact on comic books, The Sandman has had a significant influence on pop culture. The series was mentioned in songs by Tori Amos, Alice Cooper and others, Sandman posters can be seen in the background of the sitcom Roseanne, and Extreme Championship Wrestling alumnus Raven is fond of wearing Sandman T-shirts. Dave Sim parodied the characters (Dream became "Swoon", Death "Snuff" and so on) in his comic book, Cerebus. Sam Kieth also parodied the character Death and Sandman fans in his comic, The Maxx.

The band Counting Crows have been avowed fans of the comic book for years, and some elements of the series can be heard on their songs, particularly Murder of One and Angels of the Silences.

The Sandman has also gained a decent amount of attention outside the comics world among other subcultures and has gained increasing popularity in the goth subculture.

Occasional covers and work with Japanese artist Yoshitaka Amano has brought the title to the attention of fans of Japanese art and pop culture, as well as video game fans familiar with Amano's work through the Final Fantasy series, as well as other game and anime projects he has contributed to.

Richard Garfield, creator of the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering drew inspiration from Sandman #50 ("Ramadan") to create Magic's first expansion set: Arabian Nights. While the majority of the set involved Garfield researching the actual Arabian Nights stories, one card, named "City in a Bottle", was a direct nod to the ending of "Ramadan".

[edit] Publication

The Sandman was initially published as a monthly serial, in 32-page comic books (with some exceptions to this pattern). As the series quickly increased in popularity, DC Comics began to reprint them in hardcover and paperback editions, each representing either a complete novel or a collection of related short stories.

DC first published "The Doll's House" storyline in a collection called simply The Sandman. Shortly thereafter, the first three volumes were published and named independently and also collected in an eponymous boxed set. (Death's debut story, "The Sound of Her Wings" from issue #8, appeared both at the beginning of The Doll's House and at the end of early editions of Preludes and Nocturnes, creating overlap between the first two volumes. This overlap isn't present in newer editions.) Further collections would then be released shortly after their completion in serial form.

[edit] The Sandman Library

A total of ten collections contain the full run of the series, and have all been kept in print. They are as follows:

• Preludes and Nocturnes (collecting The Sandman #1-8, 1988-1989, ISBN 1-56389-011-9): Dream is imprisoned for decades by an occultist seeking immortality. Upon escaping, he must reclaim his objects of power while still in a weakened state, confronting a dream junkie, the legions of Hell, and an all-powerful madman in the process. Guest starring several DC Universe characters including John Constantine, Scott Free, J'onn J'onzz, Scarecrow and Doctor Destiny.
• The Doll's House (collecting The Sandman #9-16, 1989-1990, ISBN 0-930289-59-5): Morpheus tracks down rogue dreams that escaped the Dreaming during his absence. In the process, he must shatter the illusions of a family living in dreams, disband a convention of serial killers, and deal with a "dream vortex" that threatens the existence of the entire Dreaming.
• Dream Country (collecting The Sandman #17-20, 1990, ISBN 1-56389-016-X): This volume contains four independent stories. The imprisoned muse Calliope is forced to provide story ideas, a cat seeks to change the world with dreams, Shakespeare puts on a play for an unearthly audience, and a shape-shifting immortal (obscure DC comics character Element Girl) longs for death.
• Season of Mists (collecting The Sandman #21-28, 1990-1991, ISBN 1-56389-041-0): Dream travels to Hell to free a former lover, Nada, whom he condemned to torment thousands of years ago. There, Dream learns that Lucifer has abandoned his domain. When Lucifer gives the Hell's key (and therefore, the ownership of Hell) to the Sandman, Morpheus himself becomes trapped in a tangled network of threats, promises, and lies as gods and demons from various pantheons seek ownership of Hell.
• A Game of You (collecting The Sandman #32-37, 1991-1992): Barbie, a New York divorcée, travels to the magical realm that she once inhabited in her dreams, only to find that it is being threatened by the forces of the Cuckoo. This series introduces the character of Thessaly, who will play a key role in Morpheus' eventual fate.
• Fables and Reflections (collecting The Sandman #29-31, 38-40, 50, Sandman Special #1 and Vertigo Preview #1, 1991, 1992, 1993): A collection of short stories set throughout Morpheus' history, most of them originally published both before and after the "Game of You" story arc. Four issues dealing with kings and rulers, were originally published under the label Distant Mirrors, while three others, detailing the meetings of various characters, were published as the Convergences arc. Fables and Reflections also includes the Sandman Special, originally published as a stand-alone issue, which assimilates the myth of Orpheus into the Sandman mythos as well as a very short Sandman story from the Vertigo Preview promotional comic.
• Brief Lives (collecting The Sandman #41-49, 1992-1993): Dream's erratic younger sister Delirium convinces him to help her search for their missing brother, the former Endless Destruction, who left his place among the "family" three hundred years before. However, their quest is marred by the death of all around them, and eventually Morpheus must turn to his son Orpheus to find the truth, and undo an ancient sin.
• Worlds' End (collecting The Sandman #51-56, 1993): A "reality storm" strands travelers from across the cosmos at the "Worlds' End Inn". To pass the time, they exchange stories.
• The Kindly Ones (collecting The Sandman #57-69 and Vertigo Jam #1, 1994-1995): In the longest Sandman story, Morpheus becomes the prey of the Furies, avenging spirits who torment those who spill family blood.
• The Wake (collecting The Sandman #70-75, 1995-1996): The conclusion of the series, wrapping up the remaining loose ends in a three-issue "wake" sequence, followed by three self-contained stories.

In addition, the cover images from The Sandman have been compiled into one volume:

• Dustcovers: The Collected Sandman Covers (1998): Dave McKean's covers use techniques such as painting, sculpture, photography, drawing, and computer manipulation.

In 1999, some years after Gaiman completed The Sandman, he wrote a lavishly illustrated Sandman novel, Sandman: The Dream Hunters with art by Yoshitaka Amano. Like many of the single-issue stories throughout The Sandman, Morpheus appears in Dream Hunters, but is a supporting character at best. In Gaiman's afterword to the book, it is claimed that the story was a retelling of an existing Japanese legend. However, the books he cites as sources for it do not exist, and when asked Gaiman has stated that he made up the "legend" out of whole cloth.

As the 10th anniversary arrived, Gaiman wrote several new stories about Morpheus and his siblings, one story for each, which were published in 2003 as the Endless Nights anthology.

Neil Gaiman, on his blog, announced plans for an Absolute Sandman, a new set of oversized editions with slipcases which would compile all 10 volumes ^[2]. In October 2006, the first of four volumes of the Absolute Edition Sandman was published; it collected the first 20 issues (that is, Preludes and Nocturnes, The Doll's House, and Dream Country). The issues in the first volume of Absolute Sandman have been recolored with reference to the original prints. The volume also features a copy of the original series outline and other bonus features, such as a new introduction by the president of DC Comics, a new afterword, and a reproduction of the original comic draft and notes for A Midsummer Night's Dream^[3]. In celebration of this reissuing DC also issued a refurbished edition of the first issue of the series.

[edit] From the world of The Sandman

Because of the amount of critical acclaim Sandman received and because of its commercial viability (at the time of its conclusion, it was DC’s best-selling series), a number of spin-off volumes have been produced. Fans of the original series disagree as to the quality and legitimacy of these volumes. Subsidiary works include:

• Death: The High Cost of Living (1993), a three-issue, Gaiman-penned limited series starring Morpheus’ older sister.
• Sandman Midnight Theatre (1995), in which Wesley Dodds, the Golden Age Sandman, meets Lord Morpheus of The Endless, the Modern Age Sandman.
• Death: The Time of Your Life (1996): another three-issue, Gaiman-penned Death limited series, also featuring supporting characters from A Game of You.
• The Sandman: Book of Dreams (1996), an original anthology of prose short stories co-edited with Ed Kramer, featuring the world of The Sandman in some way. It contains work from some notable contributors, among them Caitlin R. Kiernan, Tad Williams, Gene Wolfe, Tori Amos and Colin Greenland. Publisher DC Comics imposed restrictive copyright terms on contributing authors, leading to a few withdrawing their stories.
• The Dreaming (1996 - 2001), a monthly series set in Morpheus’ realm but featuring none of the Endless. It was written and illustrated by a variety of writers and artists; Caitlin R. Kiernan wrote the largest number of scripts for the series.
• The Sandman Presents (1999-2001): a collection of limited series by various authors and illustrators featuring secondary characters from The Sandman, such as The Corinthian and The Furies.
• Sandman: The Dream Hunters (1999): a prose novella that incorporates a so-called Japanese folk tale into the Sandman mythos, written by Gaiman and featuring illustrations by Yoshitaka Amano. It is not actually based on any existing Japanese folklore, but rather incorporates elements of Chinese and Japanese folklore and mythology into a new "myth".
• The Sandman Companion by Hy Bender (2000), a non-fiction work providing extra information about the series. Its first section discusses the ten Sandman collections sequentially, analyzing their meaning, explaining some of Gaiman's myriad references and sometimes providing information on the writing of the comics. It also features a lengthy interview about the series with Gaiman himself.
• The Little Endless Storybook (2001), a one-shot comic/story book which depicts The Endless as toddlers and follows Delirium's dog Barnabas as he attempts to find the missing Delirium, written and illustrated by Jill Thompson.
• Lucifer (2001 - 2006): a monthly series written by Mike Carey continuing the story of Lucifer following the events of the fourth collection, Season of Mists.
• Sandman: Endless Nights (2003): a graphic novel with one story for each of the Endless. They are set throughout history but two take place after the final events of the monthly series. It was written by Gaiman and featured a different illustrator for each story. This collection is notable as it is the first hardcover graphic novel ever to appear on the New York Times Hardcover Bestseller list.
• Death: At Death’s Door (2004): a manga-style graphic novel, written and illustrated by Jill Thompson, showcasing Death’s activities during Season of Mists. This may become part of a series of manga novels starring Death.
• The Dead Boy Detectives (2005): a sequel to Death: At Death's Door, also by Jill Thompson, featuring the two young ghosts from Season of Mists. (The title was previously used for a The Sandman Presents limited series about the same characters.)

[edit] Neil Gaiman – written stories

The following list contains all original stories involving the Sandman universe written by Neil Gaiman. It excludes any "spin-offs" that were not written by Gaiman. It can be used by those who feel that unless it was written by Gaiman himself, it should not be considered a part of the Sandman universe.

[edit] Comic books

• Sandman, #1-75
• Sandman Special, #1
• Death: The High Cost of Living, #s 1-3
• Death: The Time of Your Life, #1-3
• Vertigo: Jam
• Vertigo: Preview
• Vertigo: Winter's Edge, #1-3
• Sandman Midnight Theatre

[edit] Graphic novels/Prose

• Sandman: The Dream Hunters
• Sandman: Endless Nights

[edit] Awards and recognition

The Sandman issue #19 "A Midsummer Night's Dream" won the World Fantasy Award in 1991 for Best Short Fiction. The following morning, the rules of the award were changed to ensure no other comics could get that award. As a result, it is the only comic that will ever win a World Fantasy Award, unless the rules are again changed.

[edit] See also

• Characters of The Sandman
• Sandman spinoffs

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

• Bender, Hy (2000). The Sandman Companion : A Dreamer's Guide to the Award-Winning Comic Series. DC Comics. 1-56-389644-3. 
• Gaiman, Neil; Sam Kieth (Illustrator), Mike Dringenberg (Illustrator), Charles Vess (Illustrator), Michael Zulli (Illustrator), Kelley Jones (Illustrator), Chris Bachalo (Illustrator), Malcolm Jones (Illustrator), Danny Vozzo (Illustrator) (November 1, 2006). The Absolute Sandman, Vol. 1 (in English). Vertigo Comics -(imprint of DC Comics). ISBN 1-4012-1082-1. 
• Stephen Rauch, Neil Gaiman's The Sandman and Joseph Campbell: In Search of the Modern Myth (2003) Holicong, PA : Wildside Press; ISBN 1-592-24212-X. 150 pages
• The Sandman Papers: An Exploration of the Sandman Mythology, edited by Joe Sanders, preface by Neil Gaiman (2006). ISBN 1-560-97748-5. Seattle, WA : Fantagraphics 196 pages

[edit] External links

• Video Interview with Neil Gaiman on the origins of Sandman at Spacecast.com
• The Nearly Complete List of Sandman Frequently Asked Questions
• A short summary of the main Sandman series
• Summaries of many issues of the Sandman
• The Fantastic Sandman Annotations
• The Sandman Continuity Pages
• The Gaiman Archive: Sandman Timeline
• Gaiman's The Sandman - an introduction
• The Sandman Timeline (a different one)

v • d • e The Sandman (Vertigo)
The Sandman Library	1: Preludes and Nocturnes • 2: The Doll's House • 3: Dream Country • 4: Season of Mists • 5: A Game of You 6: Fables and Reflections • 7: Brief Lives • 8: Worlds' End • 9: The Kindly Ones • 10: The Wake • 11: Endless Nights
from the World of The Sandman	The Sandman: The Dream Hunters • Death: The High Cost of Living • Death: The Time of Your Life • Destiny: A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold • The Little Endless Storybook • Death: At Death's Door • Dust Covers - The Collected Sandman Covers 1989-1997 • The Quotable Sandman • The Sandman Companion
Characters of The Sandman	The Endless: Destiny • Death • Dream • Destruction • Desire• Despair • Delirium
	Dreams and nightmares • Gods, demigods, and major personifications Angels, fallen angels, and devils • Immortals, witches, and long-lived humans • Fair folk • Mortals
Other topics
Neil Gaiman • Other books and series